Jentleson argues, partisan gridlock can be traced back to the early 20th century when southern Senators fought to protect Jim Crow laws. During the period, Senators used the filibuster to empower, for the first time, a minority of senators to systematically block bills favored by the majority. The filibuster still serves today to empower a minority to override our democratic system when they find themselves outnumbered. In the past several decades, the filibuster and entrenched party loyalties – have become a “kill switch” that cuts off broad-based solutions and shuts down our democratic process.

Frustrated by Republicans who used the filibuster to block President Obama’s Cabinet-level and judicial nominees, former Senator Reid invoked the so-called “nuclear option” in 2013 and changed Senate rules so that only a simple majority, rather than a three-fifths supermajority, was necessary to end debate on presidential nominees.

While Jentleson notes, his own politics are obvious enough, he writes this book not as a tirade against Republican rule by minority, but in the sincere belief that our democracy is healthiest when both parties compete to win the support of a majority of the nation. Jentleson illustrates how the nerve center of American government has failed us and “How to Save the Senate,” we can change it to respond, once more, to the popular will.